Beyond the Sea ~ The Style. Edition

UP TO YOU is MiChi’s major debut album and it was released on September 30, 2009. The album reached #4 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and sold 31,662 copies. It was preceded by 4 singles: PROMiSE, ChaNge the WoRLd, KiSS KiSS xxx, and YOU.

Oh my goodness…that is such a bad mugshot of her. D:

♦ ♦ ♦

1,2,3 get your ass on the floor
I’m bringing some madness on the way to your door
I don’t care what happens to me anymore
It’s the power of madness 

I am lazy so go to Jpop Stop for more info about MiChi. She is originally from London and made her major label debut in Japan with the single PROMiSE.

I wanna start things off by saying that I really enjoyed this album. It’s fun, full of energy, and quite fresh when compared to other J-pop releases this year. MiChi’s music is electronic and dance based for the most part but she mixes other stuff like rock and house. I want to divide my overview of the album into 3 sections since it has equal amounts of each category: A-sides, B-sides, and new tracks.

Everything was new to me but the A-sides are the strongest tracks on the album and showcase what MiChi is all about. All of them are extremely catchy and I really like the way she mixes Japanese and English lyrics. PROMiSE, ChaNge the WoRLd, and KiSS KiSS xxx are full of infectious hooks and melodies. The 4th and last single she released, YOU, stands out as the album’s only ballad and it is absolutely gorgeous. I love it so much. <3

Every original B-side from each single was included as well. Surprisingly, I thought most of them were pretty good. HEy GirL and Why oh Why (a new version of YOY) were my favorites since they are just as catchy as the upbeat A-sides. The only one that I didn’t like was One of a Kind because I thought it was annoying with its brazen electric guitars.

Finally, we have the new tracks. Technically, there’s only 4 of them since the first track is a short intro and the song UP TO YOU is a rearranged Japanese version of Fuck You and Your Money (a song from her indies album). Just listen to Fuck You and Your Money since it’s much better anyway. I did like RaiN thanks to its acoustic based sound and Something Missing was also quite good. There’s also Oh Oh… but it’s only worth mentioning because of the “I don’t give a shit what you think about me / Shut the fuck up right now“ lines which I found totally hilarious. As for Shibuya de Punch…I didn’t like it. Don’t believe the hype because it’s not that good.

As a whole, the album has a neat flow and I liked the overall theme that it had going on. MiChi definitely flaunts her personality in many of the songs and she likes to focus on the idea of being a true individual. Like she says in the opening track: What you’re gonna see is you’re gonna get cause what I hate the most is people faking it. However, she does show her sensitive side in YOU, which I thought was great. She’s not up in your face the entire time. XD

Pros: So many songs will be stuck in your head for days. They’re like crack. LOL
Cons: The new tracks aren’t up to snuff, especially Shibuya de Punch.

BASICALLY…I’vE gOT tHe MiChi MadNesS!

Overall Rating

 4½ stars

Tracklisting

1. MadNesS Vol.1
2. PROMiSE
3. ChaNge the WoRLd
4. Why oh Why
5. HEy GirL
6. KiSS KiSS xxx
7. RaiN
8. Oh Oh…
9. Something Missing
10. One of a Kind
11. WoNDeRLaND?
12. Shibuya de Punch
13. YOU
14. UP TO YOU

Note: My favorite tracks are highlighted in blue!